Henry

It was a beautiful morning. Henry could smell that the gardeners had been at work on the perfectly manicured lawns before he woke. Beside him was a cup of the finest coffee, made just the way he liked it. Life had never been easy, but now he was reaping the rewards for all his hard work. His private apartment overlooked the garden to the east; he could see the spreading Moreton Bay Figs and hear the myriad of bird calls from the inhabitants of their tangled branches. When the sun rose, it gently caressed him into wakefulness each new day. From his window he could hear children playing, he loved that sound, it took him straight back to his childhood in the country. In those days he could never have imagined he would end up here.
Henry didn’t have to do a thing in his new place. He had staff to do the cleaning; they did his laundry as well. He had always hated doing the laundry. He had never been an accomplished cook, so had taken the option of ordering from the room service menu every day. On the farm, the sun would wake him every morning too, but in those days he had to get up and take care of animals before getting ready to walk to school. He didn’t dislike the chores, he had always had a soft spot for animals and managed to keep a few of the old ones alive far longer than was sensible, long after they had ceased to be productive. His mum would tell him they were just a burden and were only wasting food and space. Mum mostly kept to the house though, and didn’t really know the extent of his ‘useless menagerie’. He was able to keep a cat in his new place, Sylvester, he seemed to share himself among all the residents, but Henry knew he was really only comfortable in his place.
He watched the TV news for a while but it usually just made him sad. Later in the morning he might go and visit the old man next door, he didn’t make a lot of sense, but the poor old fellow needed company. He was sure Janey would come around today, she came most days and would enjoy lunch with him. She was a lovely girl, in fact he was smitten. Henry had asked her to move in with him, there were plenty of rooms, plenty of beds. She would just smile sweetly and stroke his forehead. Every time as she left, she would turn and give him a sad little wave before making her way back to work. Today was the day when the masseur would come. He was booked to come around weekly and there was nothing more relaxing than a massage in the warm afternoon.
Henry dozed for a few minutes only to be woken by Janey gently rubbing his shoulder and calling his name. She had let herself in, he was happy about that, he trusted her with the key to his place and often woke from a nap to see her pretty face. “Henry, Henry, it’s time to take your medicine dear, the physio will be around later and we need to get you to the bathroom … Oh Henry, we REALLY need to get you to the bathroom. You know you can ring the bell anytime and one of us girls will come and take you. Let’s get you cleaned up again”.